Last week, we lost a member of the “Blawg” community, someone who touched a number of lives and was responsible for making the Law Blog community feel a little more like a community: Ed. of Blawg Review. His son posted from his Twitter Account (@BlawgReview) that Ed had lost his battle with esophageal cancer.

It’s hard to explain to people who weren’t part of the early days of blogging/blawging, or who never had the pleasure of working with or meeting Ed, but I never even knew his real name and I’ll still miss him. I’d met him on several occasions in person and I always called him “Ed” which may or may not have been his real name–he went by the moniker “Ed Post” in his role as Blawg Review editor. But oddly, it didn’t matter. It was never about Ed. He always seemed to be working for the community, not working to promote himself. He was deliberate in taking himself out of the picture, which was ironic, because without Ed’s influence, the picture would have been monotone.

I really enjoyed conversations with Ed about law and life as he stopped by Chicago from his extensive travels. Seriously, talk about a road warrior–he was a walking ExOfficio ad. Ed made me think a lot about the role of attorneys in serving our clients, about how I approached the practice of law, and about communication and community among members of our profession.

Without waxing too nostalgic, the early days of Blawging did feel more like a community than they do today. Perhaps that’s because then, I was a law student, not yet a lawyer, so I had more time to participate without the pressures of work (or a mortgage or children, all of which I’ve acquired since those early days). But it felt like a community because people like Ed, and the Blawg Review Sherpas, worked to make it one. There are still great blawgers out there (many below) working to keep that community, and I think that would make Ed happy.

Everyone of them was fun and could not have been done without Ed’s guidance and the help of the Sherpas. And over the years, those Sherpas have given me other advice outside the realm of Blawg Review. Exemplary members of our profession, every one.

Blawg Review hadn’t been active in quite some time, but I still looked forward to the next time Ed came to Chicago.

In honor of Ed and his creation, several Bloggers have put together one final Blawg Review, and I can’t think of a better way to honor Ed than to read them.

And finally, here’s a pic from Windy Pundit of a blawg meetup in Chicago many years ago. I’m the grinning doofus on the far left, and in typical fashion, Ed is tucked in the back, hiding his face–even though he was the reason most of us were there.

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As Ed required, every week: Blawg Review has information about all the Blawg Review hosts, and instructions on how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.

Ed. had asked me last about the possibility of hosting Blawg Review today, and I had indicated that I would, but since I would be traveling this weekend, that it would be a little more, um, low-key than some of my previous efforts.

Ed., being the kind soul that he is, decided that he didn’t want to burden me with the responsibility while on the road. And so, I thought he had been able to find someone else to host today. Imagine my surprise when I saw his tweet about lacking a host.

So I’ve decided to delay my travels a bit this morning to answer his call for a “sua sponte” edition. (I’m driving, so I have a *little* flexibility, and no groping. At least by the TSA.) So, here it is: your November 22, 2010 Blawg Review. Dave! Style, with an emphasis on Dave! and a little short on the style:

With Thanksgiving approaching fast, I thought I would take the time to focus the Blawg Review on lawyers I’m thankful for. Our is a profession that is often lambasted and subject to ridicule because of those members of the bar who are, well, lesser. It’s easy to take pot-shots at the worst of our profession and there are a number of blawgers out there doing just that. Some do it humorously, some do it viciously. But it’s rare (to me at least) to see lawyers celebrating good lawyers. And there are good lawyers. Let’s be thankful for them this week.

First up, I’m thankful for one of the most well-known lawyers of our history: Abraham Lincoln. I first encountered his famous “blog post” entitled “Notes for a Lecture on Law” when I was a law student. It was read during a guest lecture by Thomas Fitzgerald, Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court (Ret.). I was incredibly moved by Lincoln’s words, and I try to live by them everyday in my practice. I’m thankful that Justice Fitzgerald shared them with us, and I’m thankful that the folks at Harris-Greenwell have them posted, along with some pics of the original in Lincoln’s hand, so you can see not only the incredible text, but get some insight into Lincoln’s thought and writing process.

Thinking back to Law School, I’m also thankful for the sort-of-weekly which is occasionally hosted by Evan Schaeffer and Thanks, But No Thanks. The Law School Roundup makes me thankful that there are law students out there who are not all self-entitled income seekers, and that there are people in law school today who are entering our profession to do some good–be it in public service or in the service of individuals. Reading student blawgs can be a great antidote to some of the cynics in or of our profession.

As a repeat host of Blawg Review, I’d be remise if I wasn’t also thankful for the Blawg Review sherpas who have helped shape my Blawg Review’s past with their numerous and insightful submissions. In addition to many others, I don’t think I could have done it without the assistance from Colin Samuels at Infamy or Praise who now puts together A Round Tuit or Victoria Pynchon who writes the The IP ADR Blog and The Negotiation Law Blog.

Speaking of lawyers helping other lawyers, there are countless blawgs out there who follow changes and happenings in their particular area of law or in a particular jurisdiction. I’d love to name them all here, but I simply can’t. However, since I drove through the “Crossroads of America” (Or as we Hoosiers call it, Indiana) yesterday, I thought I’d give a shout out to The Indiana Law Blog where Marcia Oddi does a fantastic job recapping news, cases, and developments in Indiana law. I’d be willing to bet there’s at least one blogger in your jurisdiction, in your practice area, doing the same thing. Find them. Support them. Post them here in the comments!

I’m also thankful of the folks in our profession who do the really hard stuff that I don’t have the constitution for (no pun intended). I’m speaking mostly of the Criminal Law folks, who are again, to numerous to name in the limited time I’ve got. Some of them are gruff, some of them cultivate an “asshole” image in their on-line personas, but they all do something day-in and day-out that is vital to our lives: prosecutors work to protect our safety and defense attorney’s protect our liberties. So, why not highlight someone who’s not only been at both tables in the courtroom, but is also funny as hell? Here’s a thankful shout out to Ken Lammers who I’ve read since law school.

I don’t practice criminal law. I practice IP. And in that area, I’m particularly thankful that in my home town of Chicago, we have some great IP attorneys who also happen to be great people. If you’re ever in the Windy City for a conference or just passing through, you should try meet up with Kevin Thompson who writes Cyberlaw Central,David Donoghue of the Chicago IP Litigation Blog orEvan Brown of Internet Cases. All of them contribute to the IP community in Chicago and all good guys to grab a beer with.

As a solo practitioner, I’m also thankful for Carolyn Elefant and Susan Cartier Liebel. Carolyn writes over at My Shingle (among other places) and is, in my mind, the indisputable queen of solos. She provides so many resources and so much encouragement to those of us on our own in this profession that she deserves all the praise she gets. Susan is another outstanding supporter of solos, and her Solo Practice University is a fantastic resource for those just getting started in solo practice.

Finally, I’d like to take a moment to thank Ed. for Blawg Review. I’ve been reading (and contributing as a host) to Blawg Review for many years and I think it’s a fantastic resource for attorneys everywhere. There are so many wonderful blogs written by dedicated attorneys who take the time out of their busy days to write about topics that are important to them, topics to educate others, or even to merely vent and commiserate. In the deluge of information available, it can be really difficult to find all the good stuff, and Blawg Review helps shine a light on some of the gems out there that I might have missed otherwise.

Putting Blawg Review together is fun as a host, but sweating the details: arranging for hosts week after week, helping with topic ideas, submissions, and feedback once an edition is up must be grueling. But Ed. has never been anything but encouraging and gracious to me, and for that, I’m also thankful.

So, on that note, I encourage anyone reading this hastily dashed off, sua sponte version of Blawg Review to please leave a comment, highlighting one of your fellow attorneys that you are thankful for and why. I don’t have the time to do a fancy or theme based design for this edition, but I think that’s OK, and I’d love for anyone out there to share some good about our profession for this week. How about building a Thanksgiving Blawg Review together? Everyone bring a blawg for the feast, and enjoy!

And don’t forget, Blawg Review has information about next week’s host, and instructions how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.

Just when I though it was safe to pack up the practice tests, I found out that passing the Illinois bar exam was only the first step. There is no reciprocity in the jurisdiction of Blawg Review!

You will be given three hours to complete this Blawg Review. Your score will be based on the number of questions you answer correctly. It is therefore to your advantage to try to answer as many questions as you can. Use your time effectively. Do not hurry, but work steadily and as quickly as you can without sacrificing your accuracy.Blawg Review has information about next week’s host, and instructions on how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.

Well, the July 2008 Bar Exam is over and I’ve mostly recovered, thanks to some good meals and some good wine (more on those, later). I don’t want to say much about the exam, from sheer superstitious paranoia, but here are a few impressions…

Day one is essay day. Three Illinois essays in the morning (90min), followed by the Multi-state Preformance Test (90min) and then three hours of Multi-state Essay Examination in the afternoon. That equates to a whole lotta writing. And to someone like me, who types for a living (essentially) it sure sucked. My hand was numb by the end of the day, and I’m just getting over the soreness. Seriously, Illinois limited the number of people who could take it on a laptop to 800. Out of nearly 4,000 people taking the exam. That *has* to change. Either that, or Barbri needs to include one of those hand grip exercise things.

Day two is multiple choice. Believe it or not, it’s harder than the essays. At least for me. I’m not going to go into content or how I think I did. I’ll just say that the essays were easier than I thought, and the morning of the Multi-state Bar Exam was much harder than I thought. Overall, I suppose it balanced out to a pretty tough exam. How’d I do? I honestly have no idea.

That’s the worst of it. The test was July 29-30. I get my results sometime in mid-October. *That* is truly the worst thing about the Bar Exam.

“There is a vague popular belief that lawyers are necessarily dishonest. I say vague, because when we consider to what extent confidence and honors are reposed in and conferred upon lawyers by the people, it appears improbable that their impression of dishonesty is very distinct and vivid. Yet the impression is common, almost universal. Let no young man choosing the law for a calling for a moment yield to the popular belief–resolve to be honest at all events; and if in your own judgment you cannot be an honest lawyer, resolve to be honest without being a lawyer. Choose some other occupation, rather than one in the choosing of which you do, in advance, consent to be a knave.”

Blawg Review goes back to school with Blawg Review #122. With the school year almost upon us, it’s time for late registration–and you can’t register if you don’t know what courses are being offered. So, without further ado, I present to the Blawg Review Course Catalog.

Your host next week will be the esteemed D. Todd Smith at the Texas Appellate Law Blog. Be sure to visit for the next Blawg Review installment!

Blawg Review has information about next week’s host, and instructions on how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.

Yes, I’m going to be taking the MPRE in August. (For those non-law talking types, that is the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam, read: ethics test.) I was at school the other day and saw a Barbri review flyer, and since I already put down a Barbri deposit (1st year) I get to take their review for free. Yipee. Anyway, the flyer contain contained these fun facts:

Illinois, Indiana, Kansas and Missouri require a score of 80 to pass. Kentucky, Michigan, South Dakota require only a 75. You can be 5 points less ethical in those states!! But watch out if you are taking it in Minnesota or Ohio… they require an 85, those goodie two shoes.

Best of all, Wisconsin doesn’t require it! You can be as unethical as you want in Wisconsin. Go Badgers!

But the kicker, to me, is that in Illinois you have to have completed at least 60 hours of law school (2 years) in order to take the exam. They wouldn’t want you taking it sooner, you know, because here in Illinois they recognize that after two years of law school you might be less ethical.

I’m in California all this week for a conference, which so far has been kind of a bust. It’s a regular annual technology thing, with some training seminars and a lot of vendor exhibitions. Unfortunately, there just haven’t been many things I’ve seen here that I didn’t already know about. The web and the speed of transmission of information has really changed what conferences *should* be, but that’s for another post.

This post is about one of the training seminars. Now, keep in mind that most of the attendees at this conference are technology professionals. They make their living working with technology.

Today, I attended a session, which had typical PowerPoint handouts, but the second slide (after the title) was a huge “WARNING”:

“Materials may not be recorded or copied or used for any for-profit purpose or any other event use without prior permission. Violators will be prosecuted.”

First, the whole point of getting the information in the seminar *is* to use it for-profit: to expand your skills and increase your business. Now, I do realize that this disclaimer is really meant to try to discourage people from stealing the slides for their own presentations, but honestly, is this really necessary? More to the point, does the presenter think it’s _effective_? It won’t stop a real jackass from stealing the content, it doesn’t really provide any legal protection (a simple copyright notice at the bottom would have worked) and it insults the intelligence of the rest of us.

Here’s the BlawgThink final wrap up… Then enough navel gazing and back to the regularly scheduled irreverence you’ve come to expect here.

There were too many people I met to name them all, but I was very glad for the opportunity to meet everyone. It was very nice to get a chance to meet some people who I’ve read regularly for some time, and others who I intend to start reading post haste. I’ll be updating the ol’ blogroll shortly.

It was also a real pleasure to meet entrepreneurs (yes, solos are entrepreneurs) like Carolyn Elefant and Brandy Karl. They provide refreshing perspective, especially since I’m entrepreneurially inclined myself.

Some other refreshing perspectives to blogging issues, problems and solutions, came from Sabrina I. Pacifici, Henry Copeland, and Jeff Beard. Who all participated in one of the most interesting sessions of the second day.

I got some great tips for streamlining my blog from Fred Faulkner and I have to thank Karl Craine for his generous support of a law student with food.
Finally, it was a distinct pleasure to meet Doug Sorocco who was not only super helpful but an all around great guy, and Evan Schaeffer who is also great and very supportive of student blawgers.

Thanks to everyone involved, and I look forward to meeting more bloggers in person as I continue to develop the content here on Preaching to the Perverted.

For the last “session” of the day, I sat down with, Matt Homann and some others to discuss the future of LexThink and share ideas about the successes and failures of the conference. Evan Schaeffer, Carolyn Elefant, and Henry Copeland had some great ideas and suggestions For ways to make not only this conference better–but also taking it to a new level with other topic ideas, etc. Some really good ideas came out of this that I’d love to see implemented in future conferences.

One thing is certain: Henry Copeland gets it. The guy has really great, insightful comments that show he’s really on the ball.

Here are some specific suggestions I had for making BlawgThink/LexThing even better:

1. The sponsorships and product giveaways were great, but it sure would be nice to see a Mac sponsor!

2. A little more instruction on the “Open Space” would be nice; having the list of “Open Space” sessions better organized would have been helpful.

3. A little better communication before the conference would be nice; the blog and basecamp were OK, but a tad unreliable. LexThink might want to ReThink their hosting company.

Keep in mind, these are pretty minor criticisms. When you have a two day conference and you can only generate three minor criticisms, that’s a damn good conference!